By Ian Bremmer<p>
Ian
Bremmer is president of Eurasia Group and author of the newly released Every
Nation for Itself: Winners and Losers in a G-Zero World.
</p>

April 5, 2013

Eurasia Group’s weekly selection of essential reading for the political risk junkie — presented in no particular order. As always, feel free to give us your feedback or selections by tweeting at us via @EurasiaGroup or @ianbremmer.

In the past few weeks in China, we’ve seen over 15,000 dead animals pulled out of China’s polluted rivers, with vast distances between discoveries. Recently, three people have contracted a virus strain that previously did not affect humans. Explanations from government officials have been as murky as the polluted water itself. This piece doesn’t claim that we can draw a firm connection between these events … but it argues that we certainly cannot rule it out.

The U.S. manufacturing sector makes up just 11 percent of the American economy — but it represents about 60 percent of U.S. exports and 68 percent of private sector research and development. Does the rigid focus on manufacturing’s job creating capabilities tell the whole story?

In this collection of excerpts from Chuck Hagel’s speech at the National Defense University on April 3 (full transcript here), Hagel addresses key questions: What is America’s role abroad as it becomes more hesitant to engage in global affairs? How has the American military — and the challenges it faces — evolved since 9/11?